Controversy has erupted in China over the use of a poor wet nurse by an affluent family.

Professional wet nurses are becoming more common in major Chinese cities.

The rising incomes of city dwellers has fueled demand for the milk, while raising questions over the ethics employing wet nurses.

Reuters reports that bogus milk formula has caused health scares in China in recent years. At least 13 babies died from malnutrition in Anhui province after they were fed the fake baby milk in 2004.

Yue Jiangmei, 22, is a poor woman from Hebei province. She left her baby in the care of a relative in order to work in Wenzhou as a wet nurse.

She tells Beijing News, "My daughter was 7 months old and able to be nourished with baby food and milk powder."

A family in Wenzhou offered $500 a month in an advertisement for a wet nurse. This amount is five times Yue's salary.

Hu Wei, a manager at the company, tells Beijing News, "The company trained her for a week, which included knowledge of breast care, baby massage exercises, post-pregnancy exercises... She was also taught Tang dynasty poems and lullabies."